A Doll’s House Essay - 1511 Words

The enforcement of specific gender roles by societal standards in 19th century married life proved to be suffocating. Women were objects to perform those duties for which their gender was thought to have been created: to remain complacent, readily accept any chore and complete it â€Å"gracefully† (Ibsen 213). Contrarily, men were the absolute monarchs over their respective homes and all that dwelled within. In Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, Nora is subjected to moral degradation through her familial role, the consistent patronization of her husband and her own assumed subordinance. Ibsen belittles the role of the housewife through means of stage direction, diminutive pet names and through Nora’s interaction with her morally ultimate†¦show more content†¦Ibsen utilizes the boundaries of the â€Å"inexpensively furnished† (147) room to create Nora’s symbolic cage displaying how she is physically unable to leave the confines of t he room and the role in which every 19th century wife must play. In Act I, Nora plays her faà §ade of the frivolous â€Å"funny little spendthrift† (150) in an effort to seem as defenseless as the woodland creatures Torvald finds so endearing and subsequently patronizing. Nora’s quarantine is enhanced as she is called a â€Å"squirrel†¦skylark, and little bird† (150) by Torvald, infantilizing her character and consequently solidifying her inability to escape the confines of her assumed womanly role. Nora readily assumes the position of a subordinate and feeble woman to protect the illusion she perceives as a complete home in addition to avoid â€Å"[being] completely alone† (154). This absolute isolation in adherence to the role in which she has been nurtured to conform to is slowly deteriorating her character, which is displayed in the increased sporadic nature of â€Å"poor little Nora’s† (152) actions and her lack of ability to focu s as the play progresses. Nora’s childlike behaviors steadily become more obvious as her fixated birdcage becomes increasingly suffocating, the discomfort with her current isolation grows and as her mask of perfection slowly disintegrates.Show MoreRelatedA Dolls House1069 Words   |  5 PagesA Doll’s House takes place in 19th century Norway and Ibsen provides the audience a view of the societal shackles of the era that would imprison women in their own houses. Ibsen introduces Mrs. Linde at early stage of the play as Nora’s old school friend with whom Nora could share her secret and this serves as a way of letting the audience know about Nora’s struggles. Mrs. Linde is an independent woman whose character serves as a foil to Nora’s character in the play. Throughout the play, A Doll’sRead MoreDolls House996 Words   |  4 Pagesstresses an individual’s dignity and worth and capacity for self-realization through reason. Humanism is n ot just about males or just about females; its about humans living as one. In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, humanism is shown through every single word and every single detail. A Doll’s House centers on humanism because it demonstrates the search for identity, living up to societal standards, and believing that men and women are equal. Throughout the entire play, each character searches forRead MoreAn Analysis of a Dolls House1535 Words   |  7 PagesA Doll’s House 1. 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Women were to be a representation of love, purity and family; abandoning this stereotype would be seen as churlish living and a depredation of family status. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story The Yellow Wallpaper and Henry Isben’s play A Dolls House depict women in the Victorian Era who were very much menial to their husbands. Nora Helmer, the protagonist in A Doll’s House and the narrator in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† bothRead MoreA Critics Opinion of a Dolls House1743 Words   |  7 PagesDestiny Maxfield Mrs. Collar Engl. 1302 19 November 2012 A Critic’s Opinion of A Doll’s House In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House many views could be seen from both sides of the gender world. Critics will argue about the true meaning of the story and why Ibsen wrote the story. The main points of the play that critics discuss are sexuality i.e. feminism, the wrong doing of the father figure, and spiritual revolution. I believe these critics are each right in their own way from my understanding of theRead MoreTheme Of Feminism In A Dolls House1268 Words   |  6 PagesHenrik Ibsen explores the feminist movement of his time throughout A Dolls House. He shows the feminist movement in all acts by many of the characters. The feminist movement is the movement to have women and men treated equally across all aspects of life. A Dolls House follows Nora as she deals with the effect of a decision she made years ago about borrowing money. Nora must find a way to change the perceptions others have about her actions. Ibsen uses figures to make the audience understand theirRead More A Dolls House Essay1148 Words   |  5 PagesA Doll House Essay Ibsen said that his mission in life was to â€Å"Inspire individuals to freedom and independence† which was shown throughout the play A Doll House. Since he wrote modern theatre, the characters were real and audiences could relate to them. He particularly questioned the role of men and women during his time. Ibsen used A Doll House to motivate women so they would seek more power and freedom in their relationships. Audiences could then look up to characters such as Nora and